Belle

Belle

Monday, October 24, 2011

Review : Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Publisher : Doherty, Tom Associates - TOR Books
Published : August 2011
Pages : 320
Self Purchased - Hardcover

Can someone send me the next book now, so  I never have to leave this world?? :) I read the synopsis of this book when I picked off the shelf at Barnes and Noble, the cover appealed to me and the story sounded amazing.  I hoped that when I started to read it I would not be let down and I have to say, the book exceeded my expectations. 
This book was everything I wanted it to be and more.  The author does a tremendous job in relating the characters to us and to each other.  There is no one that seems out of place, they all interlock like a perfect puzzle.  The humor was perfectly placed, the plot was easy to follow and interesting and there is enough action, gore, romance and mystery to keep you wanting more throughout every page turn. Can all that be easily explained in one book, yes, and it's done beautifully in Anna Dressed in Blood.   I never felt that the book was slow or maybe something could have been left out to speed things along.  Nope, this book is simply a gem and I cannot wait to read the next one!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Review : A Monster Calls : By Patrick Ness

Publisher : Candlewick 2011
Author : Patrick Ness
Inspired by : Siobhan Down
Pages: 224


I'm not sure that I can put into words the way that I felt about this book. It was beautiful, it was touching and it made me tear up several times. The book is about grief and how a young boy is dealing with his mom having cancer. I don't think there are any spoilers to give away, yet I am not going to go into a thick detail of the plot. I think it is better to say that I read this book in one sitting. I could not put this down for an instant, I needed to read the beauty all the way through till the end. It touched me, the writing style, the story, the characters, simply everything. It tugged at my heart strings throughout the book, but especially at the end because it had come to the end of the story. I wanted it go on and on but every good story has to come to an end.

Perhaps it touched me because as a young girl I lost my father, but I honestly think that anyone had ever watched a loved one be sick and had to deal with the possibility of them not being there anymore will have a fond appreciation for this book. Patrick Ness is a master of story telling and words, I hope to read more novels by him.

Another part of this book particularly touching to me was that the idea came from Siobhan Dowd, who unfortunately succumbed to cancer before she could publish this story. Luckily for us Patrick Ness was able to take the idea for the story and bring it to us.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Review : The Juliet Spell by Douglas Rees

Thank you Harlequin for the ARC of this fabulous book!


I received this as an ARC and I had read the synopsis but I was not sure if I would like it.  Well, it was truly a wonderfully fun book that I am glad I got the chance to read.  With my list of Halloween reads, I have been reading a lot of darker stories and this was like a breath of fresh in between, just what I needed.  The story is about a girl named Miranda who wants to play Juliet in a play, so she can please her mother who also at one time was an actress.  She tries to cast a spell to help her get the part and that is when chaos ensues.  This is the point where I will stop because I don't want to give any spoilers away.

However, I simply loved Edmund Shakeshaft.  I literally laughed out loud several times throughout the book at the retorts that he gave.  Edmund came from the 1500's and now is dealing with life in the 21st Century, so you can use your imagination on how that will go. 

The book was fun and light hearted and not dark in anyway.  Situations were easy to understand and the flow of the book was excellent.  I finished this in a day and a half because I wanted to keep catching up with the characters with any free time that I had.  The story was predictable, as with most love stories, but there were some parts that did surprise me and make me laugh which really endeared me to this story.  I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a lovely, easy, fun story to pass your time away on an afternoon.  It's one of those stories that when you get to the last page you have a smile on your face.  It just makes you feel good!

Review : Bed Bugs by Ben H. Winters

Wow!  And that does not even describe how much I enjoyed this book.  This book sucked me in (no pun intended) right away.  There were so many terrific elements in this story, the setting, the characters but most of all the story.  Living in NY I was able to easily relate to all the locations that the author described.  I could picture where the characters were and that made it all the more fun for me.  The characters were truly wonderful.  The story is told from the perspective of Susan which to me was so interesting because the author is a male.  I cannot believe how beautifully he was able to convey the female perspective on situations so perfectly I forgot that a male was penning it.  I will not give any spoilers away.  However, I will say that this book will not be your typical nightmare bed bugs story...no no.  It is so much more than that.  With every turn of the page it gets better and better, definitely a must read!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Book Review : Envy (Empy Coffin #1) by Gregg Olsen

 

I really really enjoyed this book. The thing that I liked the most is that it was not a horror book like I thought, it was a thought provoking who done it book. When I read the synopsis and saw the title empty coffin series, I thought for sure it was going to be grisly and spooky. It definitely was spooky but it was totally different than a typical horror book.

The book starts right off with a good old death, one that any spooky thriller needs. For the rest of the book you are led on a tale of learning not only about the characters and their lives, but on a road with the "gifted" twins Taylor and Hayley in their quest for the truth. Taylor and Hayley or "HayTay" as they are sometimes called know some thing is not right in their town, but don't know just what, and you get to go along with them to find out just what that is.

When I got to the end of the story I was really glad to see that the author had taken a true story and wove it into a tale that is very real and very poignant for today's generation of teens. The book was not what I expected but it was better than I expected. It was not just a book seeking to thrill and scare, it sent a message and I'm looking forward to reading more from this series and author.